Memory exhaustion in Gitea Actions through large static matrices
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-400.
Summary
Gitea versions through 1.27.3 expand a workflow's static strategy.matrix into its full Cartesian product without a size limit when creating a run (CWE-400). A user who can open a pull request from a fork can submit a small workflow whose matrix expands to a very large number of jobs, consuming server memory and potentially terminating the Gitea process. No runner is required.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29
Description from the CNA
Gitea expanded a workflow's static `strategy.matrix` into its full Cartesian product without a size limit when creating a run, before the fork pull request approval gate applied. A user who can open a pull request from a fork could submit a small workflow file whose matrix expands to a very large number of jobs, consuming server memory and potentially terminating the Gitea process. No runner is required. Static matrices above 256 combinations are now rejected before expansion.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
No fixed version is listed for Gitea. Gitea now rejects static matrices above 256 combinations before expansion.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29
Timeline
- 2026-10-06 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-96580
- 2026-10-07 CVSS score added · CISA ADP
- 2026-10-07 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
More Gitea vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-42785 Gitea before 1.27.1 allows remote code execution via the diffpatch API through Git hook installation. KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2020-11072 The git hook feature in Gitea 1.1.0 through 1.12.5 might allow for authenticated remote… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.2
- TI-2022-12910 Gitea before 1.16.7 does not escape git fetch remote. CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2019-08404 models/repo_mirror.go in Gitea before 1.7.6 and 1.8.x before 1.8-RC3 mishandles mirror… CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00955 Open Redirect on login in go-gitea/gitea CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.1
- TI-2026-68968 Push-to-create bypass of FORCE_PRIVATE policy in Gitea CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.4
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences